Battle of Tucapel

On this day in 1553, Mapuche forces led by Lautaro attacked the Spanish fort at Tucapel, Chile. This attack was part of a larger uprising of the Mapuche against Spanish colonialists. The Mapuche leader Lautaro was captured by Spanish forces in his youth where he enslaved and learned military tactics for the express purpose to returning to his people to lead them against the Spanish. He was enslaved under Pedro de Valdivia, a Spanish conquistador was the first Governor of Colonial Chile. Lautaro had escaped Spanish enslavement the year before this attack. Valdivia had his forces spread thin, and Lautaro intercepted a message that he would be traveling to Fort Tucapel with 50 soldiers. On Christmas day, Valdivia arrived at the fort which he found completely destroyed and was shortly attacked by Mapuche forces. As he tried to order a retreat he was cut off by Lautaro himself. Legends abound of the way in which Valdivia was killed including one which says the molten gold the Spanish were so obsessed with was poured down his throat. The success of this battle was crucial and also caused disarray among the Spanish while they fought over who would be the next governor.